


First Words

by JayceCarter



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Time, Reluctant Soulmates, Rough Sex, Smut, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 14:03:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13436307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayceCarter/pseuds/JayceCarter
Summary: Nora doesn't believe in soulmates and has no desire to meet hers. It means when Mayor Hancock realizes they're soulmates, he has his work cut out for him to convince her to give him a shot.





	First Words

**Author's Note:**

> Because I'm a sucker for soulmates. . . .haha

 

_You fuckwit condom-washer!_

 

John frowned the way he always did when he stared at the words on his forearm, the ones that had been there his whole damned life.

 

Other people had simple soulmate words.

 

_Are you going to use that?_

 

_Could you watch where you’re going?_

 

_Excuse me._

 

Those were the sorts of things normal people said when meeting someone for the first time. Fuckwit condom-washer was not the sort of thing a normal person said when first meeting someone.

 

Or ever.

 

He scrubbed his hands over his face before he hauled himself off the couch.

 

His mother had laughed when he’d complained and told him at least he wouldn’t be confused. He’d know the moment someone said that. Most people with common first words would yank their arm up each time they heard it.

 

He had a friend who had ‘Hi’ as their first words. Each time he met someone new, he’d jerk his arm up to check if his mark had changed. The words would remain gray, not the black they turned upon hearing them from one's soulmate.

 

At least John didn’t have to worry about that bullshit. He doubted he’d hear someone say ‘condom-washer’ more than once in his life. Hell, once was probably too many times.

 

Sure, John wasn’t known for being a prude, and the words wouldn’t bother him so much if he wasn’t so sick of waiting for them. Every time he looked down at his arm he was reminded, he had a mate somewhere, and she said things like fuckwit and condom-washer.

 

John shook his head as he set a cigarette between his lips.

 

This bullshit had been on his arm all his life, and today wasn’t likely to be the day he got his answers.

 

#

 

Nora slammed into the ground when the mongrel leapt at her. The beast had ribs showing and most of its fur had fallen off, yet it still took her down.

 

Teeth tore into her shoulder, nails scratching her thigh. Nora wrestled with the animal, twisting to get her legs between them. She planted her feet against the mongrel’s belly and kicked, sending it flying off.

 

She rolled to grab the pistol that had slid across the filthy ground, then rolled once more to unload a shot into the beast's chest.

 

It fell upon her again, but this time didn’t move.

 

Fucking hell.

 

She’d rounded the corner, eyes on the neon Goodneighbor signs, and missing the three mongrels camped out beside it.

 

She’d managed to take down two of them with ease, but the alpha had proved too quick. When had dog’s become so dangerous? Made her think about the sweet ones who roamed Sanctuary Hills pre-war.

 

Wasn’t just the dogs that had gotten fucked, either. People were different, too. Vicious, dirty, underhanded. Even the few she met who seemed like they wanted to help, she couldn’t trust them. She couldn’t trust anyone, not anymore.

 

A shove had the body rolling off her, letting her pull in deep breaths again. The mongrel’s blood had soaked into her shirt, and she couldn’t help shuddering at the idea of it’s irradiated and diseased blood getting into her wound.

 

She struggled to her feet, using the piles of trash to steady herself. From her pocket, she pulled a stimpack and injected it into her arm.

 

Her ass rested against an old fridge, turned on its side, while she caught her breath. Getting inside the city would be safer, at least in theory, but she hadn’t found cities all that safe thus far. She clamped a cigarette between her lips and lit it, shielding the flame in her hands.

 

The words on her arm met her as she lit the cigarette.

 

_You’re about to pass out, sunshine._

 

She’d waited years to hear those words. Even when she’d met Nate, when she’d married them, she’d been terrified she’d hear those fucking words. Hearing them would tear her world apart.

 

Most people didn’t get involved with someone who wasn’t their mate. It proved too hard when they finally found the person whose words showed on their skin. A draw pulled mates together, something impossible to resist.

 

Nate had had a mate. A woman named Kasey who had died in a car crash when they were eighteen. Her words mocked Nora every time she saw them. _Can you grab that bag for me?_ She’d asked him that in a grocery store, needing him to reach a bag of coffee from a top shelf.

 

They hadn’t had much time together, only a year before she’d died. Nate had been driving, and he’d never really gotten over it.

 

So, when Nora had met him at a bar a few years later, when they’d fucked in a back room because she couldn’t wait until they got to either of their places, she didn’t care about mates.

 

Fuck mates.

 

She’d watched her parents fight constantly because they’d both settled in order to be together like they thought they had to do.

 

Still, no matter how much she reassured Nate that she loved him, that she didn’t care who was on the other side of the bullshit on her arm, he’d accepted that she’d leave him as soon as she found her mate. It was a wedge between them they could never solve.

 

Nora pulled in another deep breath before she shoved herself off the fridge. The door to Goodneighbor was close, and once inside, she’d be able to rest.

 

A room, some sleep, some whiskey, and she’d be right as rads. Or. . . something.

 

A broken laugh left her, letting her know she might have lost more blood that she’d realized. Her head had gone dizzy, her thoughts sluggish and all far funnier than they should have been.

 

She forced her legs to carry her through the gate. It creaked as she shoved it closed behind her.

 

“Well, well. Looks like you should have bought your insurance already,” said a man with a bald head and a cigarette between his lips.

 

“Unless it’s ‘keep dumb assholes away from me’ insurance, I don’t give a fuck.”

 

“Hey now, don’t be like that. I think you’re gonna like what I have on offer. You hand over everything you got on you or accidents start happening. Big, bloody accidents.”

 

So, he was one of those. It meant she’d like this town.

 

Nora didn’t even bother for a response. Her side hurt, her head throbbed, and she still had fucking radiation blood in her wound. She lifted her pistol and unloaded three shots into the man’s skull.

 

“You fuckwit condom-washer!” She drew a foot back and kicked the body.

 

#

 

John stumbled as his arm burned, as the words he’d been waiting for rang in his ears.

 

He jerked his arm up and yanked the shirt and coat out of the way. Sure enough, the words shifted from the light gray they’d been to a black.

 

The woman who stood by the gate kicked Finn’s body, her hair filthy and knotted, cut short and wild, like she’d used a knife to manage it. Her shirt had blood soaked into the entire side, some dripping down, leaving a trail.

 

He’d imagine she normally didn’t look so damned pale, but she must have lost a lot of blood.

 

He walked out into the open where she stood, panting, bending forward at the hips like she’d run outta energy.

 

Her gaze lifted, her hands on her knees to keep her upright. “He fucking deserved it,” she panted out, wobbling.

 

“You’re about to pass out, sunshine.”

 

She dropped her head and let out a cackle. “So it’s you, huh? Doesn’t it just fucking figure?”

 

And down she went.

 

#

 

Nora woke with a groan, hand patting around her for chems. Something to take the edge off.

 

Had she had too much fun the night before or not enough? Had to be one of those two if she felt like this.

 

“Morning, sunshine.” The raspy voice brought it all back.

 

She lifted her arm, squinting.

 

The black writing met her. “Well fuck.”

 

“Nice to meet you, too.”

 

She twisted her head to find the same ghoul from the night before sitting in a chair beside wherever the fuck she was laying at. He wore the same stupid outfit from before, an old red coat, a tricorn hat.

 

So her mate was a freak? Lovely. Probably liked to fuck women using old revolutionary guns or something. Not something she’d be letting him try.

 

“You want to try the whole names thing, sunshine?”

 

Sunshine. The pet name that had taunted her at night, the one Nate would see and frown.

 

“Not really.” She pushed herself upright, ignoring the pain in her side. Beneath the shirt, not the shirt she’d gone to bed in she noticed, an angry red wound remained. She poked at it, wincing.

 

“Had the doctor give you a once over and a stimpack. The mutts outside give you trouble?”

 

“You should put muzzles on them.”

 

“They keep the riff-raff out.”

 

She twisted, setting her feet on the ground. “Well, guess that explains why they gave me trouble, doesn’t it?”

 

“Hold up there, sister. You ain’t leaving, I just found you.”

 

“Found me?” She hauled herself to her feet, grateful to find she had a pair of sweatpants on. “I wandered in here. Let’s not act like you went searching.”

 

“Doesn’t matter how it happened, it happened. At least stay until you feel better, until you ain’t limping.”

 

Her shoes rested in the corner, so she stumbled over for them. “I’m not staying anywhere. Soulmates are bullshit, _sunshine._ Get it through your head. It’s a crapshoot, nothing else. No words on my arm are going to keep me stuck anywhere.”

 

He stood and yanked up his sleeve, exposing his arm. The words there in black drew her attention, clear despite the radiation burns. _You fuckwit condom-washer!_

 

“I’ve been wearing this all my life, sister. I think you owe me at least a beer for that bullshit.”

 

Nora stared at the words before she broke down laughing. Of all the first words she’d seen, those were the worst. Her hand went to her side as the laughter aggravated her wound, but she couldn’t stop.

 

Finally, she gave him a smile. “Guess I owe you that much, huh? Fine, one beer.” She pointed a finger at him. “That’s it, though. Don’t get your hopes up, because that’s all you’re getting from me.”

 

“Whatever you say.” And if the ghoul’s grin and confidence were and indication, she might just be in trouble.

 

#

 

John took a drink of his beer as he studied his soulmate. The girl was a train wreck.

 

“Why don’t you slow down on that whiskey, sunshine?”

 

She tipped the bottle back and gulped some, ignoring his advice. Though, that hardly surprised him. His mate didn’t take advice well.

 

In fact, she seemed to do the opposite. When someone suggested the bar, she sat a table. When he suggested scotch, she picked whiskey.

 

“You know, most people are happy when they finally meet their soulmate.”

 

She gave him a withering glare. “Fuck you,” she muttered before slamming the glass on the table and walking out.

 

John left his beer on the table and chased her out into the open air of the night. He’d just found her; he wasn’t about to lose her.

 

Years of hoping, and waiting, of wanting. Years of him thinking he was never going to find his mate, that she’d never want him, and here she was trying to walk out of his life without even giving him a chance.

 

He caught up with her as she got near the Statehouse door. He twisted her, forcing her back against the wall. “Talk to me, would you? You just met me so I know all this anger ain’t about me.”

 

“It is about you! Because of you, my husband never could relax, never really thought I loved him!”

 

He pulled his head back to stare at her, but he kept her arms pinned so she didn’t hit him.

 

She seemed the kind who’d hit him.

 

“I never even met your husband, sunshine.”

 

“But your fucking words have been on my arm from day one, and he looked at them every day, waiting for you to show up and ruin it.”

 

Ah, that made some sense. Took some people so long to find their soulmates, they paired off beforehand.

 

“So, where is Prince Charming?”

 

She jerked against his grip. “Gone.” The word cracked in her throat.

 

Ah, fuck. Guess that answered the question, didn’t it? That sort of pain didn’t happen when people were off wandering around somewhere. No, it happened when the Commonwealth tore the people away.

 

He released one of her arms to stroke his fingers against her cheek. “Sorry, sunshine.”

 

“Fuck you.” She swung her fist, nailing him in the jaw.

 

Figures.

 

Before he could respond, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a kiss. It helped erase the ache in his jaw because his soulmate had a hell of a right hook.

 

She went to her toes to devour him with the kiss. Nothing gentle, nothing ease, just anger and whiskey.

 

At least from her. From him? It was all the damned waiting he’d done. He pushed her backward, against the wall, rewarded when she hoisted a leg up and around his hip.

 

He brought his hand between them, undoing the button of her pants with a practiced flick of his fingers. His hand disappeared into her pants, down into her underwear until he could touch her.

 

She didn’t pull away, didn’t do anything but moan when his fingers slid against her slit.

 

Better than the best jet hallucination. He hooked his fingers up and pressed two into her, his palm grinding against her clit.

 

Her hips writhed against his hand, that leg still hiked up around him, her nails in his skin.

 

They were in the middle of Goodneighbor where anyone could walk around the corner and see them, and he was fingering his soulmate with no plans to stop.

 

If he stopped, she might think twice, might turn him down. He’d waited way too fucking long for that.

 

She broke the kiss to moan, but he didn’t stop. His tongue teased her lips, tasting the sounds she made as he fucked her with his fingers.

 

Hell, could he fuck her here, too? He could turn her around, lower those jeans just a bit, and take her. It would be so damned easy.

 

He pressed harder against her clit, rewarded when she came around his fingers. He covered her mouth with his, swallowing the almost scream she released.

 

Just how long had it been for her? This wasn’t the body of a girl who indulged very often, who let go very often. Not with the way she cracked, the way her head smacked the brick wall as she came.

 

He pulled his hand from her pants, strings of wetness coated between his fingers. Never one with much self-control, he brought those fingers to his lips and licked ‘em clean.

 

She fumbled at his pants. “Come on, Mayor.”

 

He caught her chin. “John. Call me John. And not out here. Ain’t fucking you in the street.” 

 

Her tongue touched her lips, her mask of indifference sliding away for a split second when she mumbled his name on a whisper like a compromise.

 

John grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the statehouse. He wasn’t gonna try to get her up to his office or his room. Fuck that. Too far.

 

“Out, now!” He let his voice carry, an edge of annoyance in it.

 

Sure enough, the Watch in the statehouse went running, leaving them alone.

 

He twisted her until her back pressed against his chest, then he raked his teeth over her pulse as he pushed her pants down to her knees. He shifted her forward until she went to her knees on the stairs, hands on the upper steps. “You sure about this, sunshine?”

 

“Now you care?”

 

John undid his pants, hand dipping inside to pull his cock from the clothing. “’Course I care. I’m a lot of shit, but I’m not one to have sex with people if they don’t want to, even my soulmate.”

 

“Don’t call me that.”

 

“Why not? Take a look at that arm again, sunshine. It’s what we are.” He drug the head of his cock against her slit, a slow tease. “So answer the question. You want this?”

 

She leaned forward, folding her arms on the step and leaning her forehead against it. “Yeah, I want this.” Her voice floated out through her arms.

 

John eased his hips forward, pressing into her.

 

Her cunt squeezed down on him, still sensitive from when he’d gotten her off. Each inch he fed into her, she whimpered and pulsed around him.

 

And that was a fucking thing a beauty. The angle let him watch his dick disappear into her, watched her body stretch around him.

 

Even better? Her arm was twisted enough, the word ‘sunshine’ showed. Once he’d gotten inside her, once his pelvis pressed against her ass, he leaned over her body and pressed a kiss to those words.

 

Possessive. That’s what that discomfort in him was. He was really fucking possessive of her. She was his, the soulmate he’d waited for, the one he’d known would show up with her foul mouth and attitude. What a match for him, huh?

 

Her nails scratched against the wooden stairs as he fucked her, slow but hard. Each thrust echoed the slap of his skin against hers and forced her forward. He grasped her hips to keep her from going face first into the steps.

 

She didn’t pull away, didn’t fight it. After a few minutes, she pressed her hands against the stairs and pushed back to meet his thrusts.

 

Yeah, his soulmate wasn’t a girl to be passive, to just accept shit. Nah, she was going to take just as much as she gave.

 

His fingers tightened on her hips as he took her harder, wanted to bury himself as deep as he could into her willing body. He wanted to hold off, to take his time, to show some sort of real skill.

 

If there was a girl he wanted to impress, it was his soulmate. Still, he couldn’t. That strange new instinct, that connection, it demanded he finish this. It wanted to claim her.

 

John set one hand on her back, sliding it up until he grasped the back of her neck and pushed her down against the steps. He ground into her, thrust in as deep as he could before he came.

 

He leaned against her, lips pressing kisses against her back, though the shirt she still wore.

 

She didn’t push him off, her body as breathless as his. It took a moment before he groaned at the soreness in his knees.

 

John got up, helping her to her feet. “Come on, sunshine. Come sit with me, huh?”

 

She hesitated, eyes clouded with worry.

 

His lips danced against hers in a barely there kiss before he whispered against her. “Please?”

 

A sigh said he’d won, so he tugged her toward his office.

 

#

 

Nora sat beside John, beside her mate, and ignored the stickiness in her underwear. So much for keeping her head on straight, huh? All he’d had to do was get close and she’d lost her mind.

 

No wonder Nate had worried so. This soulmate shit was not for the weak.

 

“You gonna tell me your name? Or anything?” John held out an open tin of mentats.

 

She popped one of the mentats into her mouth, letting it dissolve on her tongue before she answered. “I can tell you that if you’re hoping I’m going to settle down here with you, it isn’t happening. I’ve got shit to do, important shit.”

 

He nodded, closing the tin and pocketing the chems. “I could help you.”

 

“You don’t even know me.”

 

“Don’t need to. ‘Bout time I get out of here anyway, get back into the real world. Might as well do it with you, right?”

 

“That’s all this is? Boredom?”

 

He spread his arms out on the back of the couch, the sort of confidence that said the wasteland was his place, somewhere he was comfortable in. “Nah, that ain’t it at all. Whether you like it or not, you’re my soulmate. I’ve been waiting for you a long-damned time, sunshine. If it takes tearing through whatever the fuck you’re after to get to know you? Hell, I’ll walk through whatever I have to.”

 

She twisted to stare at him, to try and understand him, this man willing to give up his life just for a chance with her, just for the chance of a life with his soulmate. Was it just instinct? Was it just him?

 

“Nora,” she said.

 

“What?”

 

“My name. It’s Nora.”

 

“Well, what do you know, that’s my favorite name.”

 

Nora refused to be charmed despite the way the words rolled off his tongue. She offered her best ‘you’re a fucking idiot’ face. “I doubt that.”

 

He leaned toward her, closing that distance, his kiss already familiar like it had been scorched into her mind the moment he’d touched her. “Ain’t lying, sunshine. It’s for sure my favorite name now.”

 

Nora lost the battle and couldn’t hide her smile. Maybe this whole soulmate thing was worth checking out, at least for a while.


End file.
